You could see her nose and even touch her, but she was wedged in a hole with a rock, preventing us from getting her out from the angle we were digging

On December 29, 2010, Emma, a two-year old, long-haired, pure-bred dachshund did what lots of other doxies are known to do: she chased a small animal or rodent. Dachshunds are bred to scent, chase, and flush out

Emma is rescued

badgers and other burrow-dwelling animals, as well as to hunt smaller prey such as rabbits. So, naturally, Emma was just following her instincts. Unfortunately for Emma, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette, she followed the creature under a 20-foot wide man-made embankment of compacted rock and gravel. Apparently, at the base a small maze of rock gaps, she somehow squeezed her way from one side of the embankment to the opposite side, but went back inside and didn’t come back out. It took 2½ days to rescue Emma from the cave-like hole.

It should have been simple to rescue Emma. Her family, Tom and Debbie Skubal, should have been able to just coax her out from beneath the underground rock gaps. But Emma must was trapped and the ordeal turned into a community rescue party, involving a backhoe, Rollie’s Rotor Rooter, chisels, underground camera cables, a jackhammer, and lots of persuasive dog treats.

“You could see her nose and even touch her, but she was wedged in a hole with a rock, preventing us from getting her out from the angle we were digging,’’ said Debbie Skubal, who also tried her luck grabbing the dog. “She was so scared, she pulled back whenever I got near her.’’

Occasionally, during the 2½-day ordeal, you could hear Emma whimpering. Lucky for Emma, the day-time temperatures were mild (in the mid-40s), and the night time temperature only dipped slightly due to a persistent shoreline fog.

By breaking up the rock that prevented Emma from being rescued with a jackhammer proved to be the right solution.

“I finally got the tip of my finger around her collar and was able to pull her out of the hole,’’ said Rohr. Then he handed Emma to her to Tom Skubal, who was kneeling right behind him in the small cave-like entrance, which was five- to six-feet below ground level.

Reunited at last!

Check out these additional newspaper photos (click on each photo to view the larger version) taken during this amazing rescue.